401(k) plans and employer stock

BLS data provide some indication of the use of employer stock as a 401(k) investment vehicle. They indicate that workers' exposure to own-employer stock has declined substantially since 1985.

Among funds contributed by employers, a significant fraction of this decline was likely caused by the increased control of the funds given to workers, as shown in the chart. Since employer stock was more prevalent among employer-provided funds with no investment choice than among employer-provided funds in which employees chose investment allocation, the increasing fraction of funds having employee choice caused employer stock exposure to decline.

Another source of decline in workers' exposure to own-employer stock was that, within those plans allowing choice, there was a marked decline in the fraction allowing employer stock as a possibility. This trend applied to both employer- and employee-provided funds.

Self-employment in the United States
Trends in self-employment by various demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, including both the unincorporated and the incorporated self-employed, as well as data on paid employees who work for the self-employed.